- 1). Examine your banana plant and identify a sword sucker. Look for growth that sprouts from the rhizome of the mother plant and produces foliage in the shape of swords. Wait until it reaches 4 feet in height to separate it.
- 2). Dig until you reach the sword sucker's underground base. You'll find it attached to the side of the plant's rhizome.
- 3). Place the blade of a sharp spade between the sword sucker's base and the plant's rhizome. Slice the sucker off. The detached portion should include a section of the rhizome on which roots are attached. Perform this step any time in the growing season.
- 4). Measure 2 feet up from the base of the sword sucker. Cut the growth above this height, using a pair of shears. Discard the top piece and retain the bottom for planting.
- 5). Remove large leaves unfurling from the sucker's stem. Banana plants have false stalks made of foliage tightly wrapped in a cylindrical shape. Keep the leaves that make up this stem.
- 6). Plant the sucker in well-drained soil at the same depth as it grew while attached to the mother rhizome. Space multiple plants 8 feet apart for fruit production. Space them 2 feet apart if you're growing them as ornamentals.
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